Classification and Standards

Character & Temperament

It is courageous, active and not shy at all. It likes the family life, devotes great affection to the most direct owner and a more moderate affection towards strangers and acquaintances. It is cheerful and intelligent. It adapts very easily although training must be firm as it can be quite stubborn.

History

Documenting of the French Basset as a purebred breed began in 1870, and from a common ancestral type, two strains were developed. One had straight front legs (Chien d’Artois) and the other had crooked front legs (Normand). The breed club was formed in 1910 and the breed was given its present name in 1924.[1]

Bassets are walking hounds, which are followed by the hunter on foot. The short legs mean that they would not get too far away from the hunter. The Basset Artesien Normand was used to hunt rabbits and other small game alone or in packs, but today they are primarily bred to be pets.

The original breed club is the Club Français du Basset Artesien Normand & du Chien d’Artois, and the breed is recognized by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale as breed number 34 in Group 6, Scenthounds. It is also recognized by the United Kennel Club (US) in the Scenthound Group. The breed may also be recognized by any of the various minor kennel clubs and internet based dog registry businesses, as well as hunting dog registries and clubs. As the breed is few in number outside of France, it is also promoted by rare breed breeder organizations for puppy buyers seeking an unusual pet.

Size & Appearance

The height of the Basset Artesien Normand is between 12 to 14 in (30 to 36 cm), with a ratio of the height to the body length of about 5:8. Weight is roughly 37 lbs (17 kg). The coat is short and tri-colored (fawn and white with black blanket, a patch across the back) or bi-colored (fawn and white). The head and long ears are distinctive, and the temperament should be calm and good-natured.[2]

Health & Maintenance

It can live in the city, as long as it is provided with enough time to exercise daily outdoors. For its coat, frequent brushings are required. Its eyes should be continually watched. The diet must be balanced to avoid its tendency to become overweight.

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Breed Standard

Basset Artesien Normand (Norman Artesien Basset)

FCI-Standard N° 34 / 14. 04. 1993 / GB

ORIGIN: France.

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : December 12, 1991.

UTILIZATION:

Small game hunting dog used for hunting with the gun. Hunts as well by himself as in a pack, with giving tongue. His short legs allow him to penetrate the most dense vegetation, there where the big dog cannot go, and to flush out the hidden game. His favourite is hunting the rabbit, but he can just as well hunt the hare as the deer. He tracks and flushes with great determination driving the game not fast, but with perseverance and giving voice.

F.C.I. CLASSIFICATION :

Group 6 Scenthounds and related breeds.

Section 1.3 Small-sized Hounds.

With working trial.

BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY :

The controlled breeding of the short haired French Basset began in the years 1870. From Bassets having an apparently common origin, Count Le Couteulx of Canteleu has fixed a utilitarian type with straight front legs called Artois, whereas Mr. Louis Lane has developed a more spectacular type, with crooked front legs, called Normand. Only in 1924 the name Artesien Norman Basset (Basset Artésien Normand) was finally adopted for the breed and the club Mr. Léon Verrier, who took over as chairman of the club in 1927, at the age of 77, has wanted to strengthen the Norman character of the breed and in the book of standards of hunting dogs of 1930, where the two breeds, Basset d’Artois and Basset Artésien-Normand figure, we find the following reference to this breed : “The committee of the “Société de Vénerie” (Game Society) decides and notes that the Basset Artésien-Normand should not be but one stage of transition towards a Norman type, without any trace of Artois.”

GENERAL APPEARANCE :

Long dog in relation to its size, well balanced, compact, recalling in his head the nobility of the big Norman hound.

IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS :

Height at withers : length of body = about 5 : 8

Depth of chest : height at the withers = about 2 : 3

Width of skull : length of head = about 1 : 2

Length of muzzle : length of skull = about 10 : 10

BEHAVIOR / TEMPERAMENT :

Gifted with an excellent nose and a melodious voice, persevere but not too fast on the line, he permits his master to fully enjoy the hunting work. Outgoing and of very affectionate nature.

HEAD

CRANIAL REGION :

Skull : Dome shaped, medium width; occipital bone apparent. On the whole the head must have a dry look.
Stop : Marked without exaggeration.

FACIAL REGION :

Nose : Black and large, slightly protruding over the lips; nostrils well open.
Muzzle : Approximately the same length as that of the skull and slightly aquiline.
Lips : Upper lip covering considerably the lower lip, without, however, being too pendulous nor too tight-lipped.
Jaws/Teeth : Scissor bite, i.e. upper incisors covering the lower ones in close contact are squarely set in relation to the jaws.
Cheeks : Formed by one or two folds of skin.
Eye : Oval shaped, large, dark (in harmony with the coat), expression calm and serious; the haw (= conjunctival lining) of the lower lid may sometimes show without excess.
Leathers : Set as low as possible, never above the line of the eye, narrow at the base, well curled inwards corkscrew fashion, supple, fine, very long, reaching at least the length of the muzzle and preferably ending in a point.

NECK:

Rather long, with some dewlap but without exaggeration.

BODY:

Back : Wide and well supported.
Loin : Slightly tucked up.
Croup : Hips a little oblique, giving a slight slant to the rump.
Chest : Of ovalized section, long, sternum well prolonged backward and prominent in front, with developed brisket. Full flanks. The brisket sternal line is distinctly below the elbows. Ribs long, carried well back.

TAIL:

Quite long, thick at base and thinning down progressively. At rest the tip of the tail must just touch the ground. Carried sabre fashion but never falling on the back; its extremity must not be like a plume. On that subject it is absolutely forbidden to modify the look of the stern of show dogs.

LIMBS

FOREQUARTERS:

Seen on the whole : Forelegs are short and well-boned; they are half-crooked or a little less than half-crooked, provided there is a sufficient principle of crook visible. Some folds of skin, without excess, on the pasterns, must be considered as a quality.
Shoulders : Muscular, oblique.
Elbows : Close to the body.

HINDQUARTERS:

On the whole and seen from the back, a vertical line going from the point of the high (buttock) goes through the middle of the leg, the hock, the metatarsal and the foot.
Thighs : Fleshy and muscular.
Hocks : Strong, quite low, relatively bent, which places the hind foot slightly under the dog when he is at rest. A small pouch of skin at the point of the hock (calcaneum) is not a fault.
Metatarsal : Short and strong.

FEET:

Oval shaped, a little elongated, toes rather close and placed firmly on the ground giving maximum support.

GAIT / MOVEMENT :

Even, quite effortless and steady movement.

SKIN:

Supple and fine.

COAT

HAIR:

Close, short and smooth without being too fine.

COLOR:

Fawn with black blanket and white (“tricolor”) or fawn and white (“bi-color). In the tri-colored dog, the head should be largely covered with tan hair and show a circle of darker hairs on each temple. The black blanket or the black patches should be composed of solid black hairs or black hair with “grizzle” (realizing thus the former characteristic of “hare pied” or ”badger-pied”).

Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.